Foreign visitors must possess an acceptable passport upon entering South Africa. An acceptable passport is one that is valid for a minimum of 30 days beyond the traveler's expected departure date. By law, anyone traveling to South Africa must have one blank unstamped visa page in their passport when entering the country. To avoid delays or refusal of entry, it is best to present two or more blank passport pages. According to the U.S. State Department's South African travel site, one page is reserved for the placement of the South African visitor's permit, and the second page helps to facilitate entry as you travel to and from South Africa.
Non-diplomat or ordinary foreign travelers fall into three visa categories--those holding passports from a 30-day visa-exempt country, those holding passports from a 90-day visa-exempt country and those holding passports from countries that do not have a visa-exempt status. A traveler from an exempt-visa country does not have to obtain a visa, unless he is planning to exceed the number of visa-exempt days that are defined for his country.
As of June 1, 2010, South Africa requires a transit visa for travelers that are citizens of countries that are not listed as visa-exempt. A transit visa permits foreign travelers to enter South Africa as they travel to another destination. If a traveler is required to have a transit visa, he must be able to produce it for inspection when requested. Ordinary foreign travelers from 30-day and 90-day visa-exempt countries are not required to obtain a transit visa.
When you arrive at a South African port of entry, an immigration officer will affix a visitor's permit to the first blank visa page in your passport. The permit defines the purpose and duration of your stay. If the purpose of your trip is other than general tourism, you must apply for the appropriate visitor's permit prior to your arrival in South Africa. The list of applicable permits includes work permits, study permits, medical permits, business permits, relative permits and exchange permits.
After clearing South Africa's immigration control area, you must proceed to the customs control area. Customs is responsible for controlling the entry and departure of personal and commercial goods. You must comply with South Africa's declared goods requirements. The customs officer will confiscate prohibited items and impose duties and value added tax (VAT) on items that do not meet duty-free limit guidelines. Foreign travelers are not required to declare goods that fall within the predefined duty-free allowances for personal items, wine, liquor, perfumes and toilet waters, tobacco products and new or used goods exceeding R3 000--3,000 South African Rand.
